- The Enterprise crew attempts to stop a plague of amoeba-like creatures from possessing human hosts and spreading throughout the galaxy.
- The Enterprise traces a virus-like outbreak that seems to be traveling in a direct line across a planetary system. The next planet is home to Kirk's brother Sam, his sister-in-law and their young son. The Enterprise arrives too late however for Sam. They find flying jellyfish-like creatures that attach themselves to humans. They take over the victims nervous system forcing them to bend to their will. Spock finds a weapon to use against the creatures but it leaves him hopelessly blind.—garykmcd
- The Enterprise traces systematic outbreaks of fatal madness that've traveled in a direct line through the galaxy. The next planet, Deneva, is home to Kirk's brother Sam, sister-in-law Aurelan and nephew Peter, but the Enterprise arrives too late. Sam is dead and the planet is infested with flying jellyfish-like parasites that sting and turn entire civilizations into totally controlled slave labor. Kirk must find a solution to this condition soon or else annihilate all the inhabitants of Deneva, including what's left of his family and Mr. Spock, stung in the line of duty.—statmanjeff
- The Enterprise investigates an epidemic progressing from planet to planet, spreading mass hysteria. When they witness a one man-ship from Denova commit suicide by setting course to the sun, a party beams down and finds what Jim feared: the plague has struck and killed his brother, research biologist Sam Kirk, whose kid Peter is brought aboard. Then they find the invaders are a form of flying jelly-fish with a terrible sting; even Vulcan physiology doesn't prevent it causing fatal madness but Spock's mental force eventually overcomes it - do the million colonists on the planet stand any chance, or should they be sacrificed to save billions in the entire galaxy? Spock beams down again and collects a specimen, to search for a cure or weapon.—KGF Vissers
- Deneva is a resort planet and a stopping off point for travelers going from one end of the galaxy to the other. A mysterious mass insanity phenomenon has been sweeping the galaxy in a straight line, infecting system after system and its heading straight for Deneva now. There is no known medical or scientific cause for this phenomenon. Jim Kirk's brother Sam lives there. Sam is married. His real name is George Samuel Kirk. Only Jim calls him Sam. Sam lives with his lovely wife Aurelan (Joan Swift) who is tall with dark hair worn up and his son Peter (Craig Huxley), who is about 10 years old. Jim is looking forward to seeing Sam. Deneva was colonized over a century ago and is one of the most beautiful planets in the galaxy. The federation is using Deneva to run supplies to the miners in the asteroid belt and bringing cargo out. Deneva has had no Federation contact for over a yr.
But as the Enterprise is approaching Deneva, they encounter a small spaceship which is headed on a direct course to the Denevan sun. They intercept the pilot's radio message. He sounds insane. Moments before the Enterprise's tractor beam can capture his ship and pull him to safety, he screams out on the radio "I'm free. Its finally gone now." Then his ship is burned up by the sun. They quickly beam down and discover Sam. Sam is dead, and everyone who is still alive is crazy. McCoy examines one of the insane citizens and says that their nervous system is being violently stimulated.
Kirk and the landing party find Aurelan and Peter, but they are insane too. They beam back and after medical help, Aurelan says that "things" arrived on Deneva on a ship 8 months ago and since then its been chaos and horror. The things made the crew to bring them to Deneva. She screams in pain and says the Things are forcing them to build ships for them to spread further in the Universe. McCoy says that Aurelan is resisting something every time she answers a question. Eventually, she passes out from the pain.
There are jellyfish type creatures all over (who cannot be killed by phaser power), Suddenly one flies off a wall and sticks to Spock's back. Spock fights through his insanity, and even tries to take over the ship. Eventually, Spock is able to control the pain in his mind, but is not allowed to return to the bridge. These creatures attack the brain and the nervous system. They leave tentacle like structures inside the body and removing them surgically can endanger the life of their host. Spock uses his Vulcan mind control to block out the pain and comes out of sick bay. He wants to beam down but is stopped by Scotty, and Scotty summons Kirk to the transporter room. Spock says to Kirk that they must capture one alien specimen and Spock says that he is the logical choice to capture one since he is already infected.
So he beams down with a grabber and captures a creature to put in a jar. They examine it on the ship & looks like an algae, single brain cell. The cell is part of a far larger organism in which the cells are not physically connected to each other. The organism is thus far more resilient to their weapons. Kirk says something about the sun made that pilot scream "I'm free. What was it?" McCoy says "We tried heat, we tried radiation. They didn't work. Aurelan and Peter would burn up before we killed the creature." Kirk cannot allow this organism to spread beyond Deneva and is prepared to kill a million people on Deneva if they cant find a way to destroy the organism, without killing its host. Kirk knows these creatures have been migrating all over the galaxy for thousands of years. He turns on the scanner light and the idea occurs "Light! We have to blast them with light." The sun radiates light at an intensity of 1 million candles per square inch. The specimen dies under light, but Kirk needs a test subject. Spock volunteers to be put under bright light. It works, The creature is dead. But Spock is blind.
Then McCoy realizes they only needed to use invisible light. Kirk and McCoy feel guilty, but there was a rush, so they didn't feel too bad. They flash bright invisible light on the planet via 210 ultraviolet emitting satellites positioned at an altitude of 72 miles and everyone is saved. Then Spock comes on the bridge and he is not blind. He has a second eyelid, says McCoy. Everyone laughs, men and women on the bridge, and all is resolved.
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